Forty-five years ago: Saturday, 1st May 1982
(Balliol College, Oxford — age 20)
After just an hour’s sleep, I was out at first light with my Sony Betamax camera and recorder, determined to capture an Oxford May Day in full swing.
I filmed the early crowds gathering on Magdalen Bridge—two people even jumped into the river—then turned to a jazz band playing nearby, with Freddie Kennelm helping me carry and manage the kit.
Back in Balliol, I shot footage of students drifting through the quad before moving on to the Union—restaurant and bar—for more of the same. From there, I cycled out to Norham Gardens.
Simon, Kizzy, and Katie eventually arrived, though by then I’d become aware that I was being a bit tedious with the camera—hovering, filming, not quite in anything. I wanted to be somewhere else, doing something else, all the time.
Eventually, I packed the kit away.
We queued at Brown’s from 6:30 and had an excellent meal—country pie, £1.75 each (mine more). Afterwards, we went on to drink in Raoul’s Bar. Katie headed home. Kizzy paired off with Simon and went back to his digs in Exeter College.
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